EVH 5150 Iconic EL34 NEW

  • Thread starter Thread starter Lightning
  • Start date Start date
LP Freak said:
Here’s a quote from James Brown about the Iconic that was taken from TGP

“The EL34 Iconics are mostly the same with the EL34's and the associated bias changes for that....we bias them a little colder than the 6L6's, based on Ed's preference on the EL34 5150 III biasing. And like the 5150 III EL34 amps, the Iconic EL34 has some minor vintage voicing differences. It's a little warmer overall........but I made sure you won't need to cut out any capacitors :)”

James B
Click to expand...

So in that context, it sounds like "a little warmer" sounds like it means there's less low end filtering at the input than the 6L6 version.
 
Metalhex said:
Do you prefer blue or red? Burn or no burn? I do like some tightness but not completely neutered.
Click to expand...
Iconic has a Green or Red channel. I honestly prefer the OD switch on the Green channel over the Red. It's a super fun amp, especially for the money.
 
skoora said:
Granted, I have only tried them in stores, but I would not say the iconic is like an original 5150 by any means. having owned an original back in the 90s, if anything, the iconic seems to answer the issues people may have had if they thought the original couldn’t quite get bright enough or have enough upper mids. I don’t find them all that similar.
Click to expand...
Sounded almost identical to my 6505 when I was A/Bing them. Crunch has way more range and the cleans are a thousand times better, though. Sold the 6505 cause there was no point keeping it when the Iconic did everything it does and more.
 
LP Freak said:
Here’s a quote from James Brown about the Iconic that was taken from TGP

“The EL34 Iconics are mostly the same with the EL34's and the associated bias changes for that....we bias them a little colder than the 6L6's, based on Ed's preference on the EL34 5150 III biasing. And like the 5150 III EL34 amps, the Iconic EL34 has some minor vintage voicing differences. It's a little warmer overall........but I made sure you won't need to cut out any capacitors :)”

James B
Click to expand...
LOL on the C19 mod 😂
 
Didn't play a head but tried a combo and was actually fairly impressive.
 
MatrixClaw said:
Sounded almost identical to my 6505 when I was A/Bing them. Crunch has way more range and the cleans are a thousand times better, though. Sold the 6505 cause there was no point keeping it when the Iconic did everything it does and more.
Click to expand...
I did get one chance to try a block letter against the Iconic one time and they were completely different from each other except for both having a boatload of gain. The OG having more push in the low mids and the only way to get decent top end or cut by getting the presence way up. The Iconic was already pretty well balanced without any extreme EQ moves and had a lot more natural kerang and ring to it on crunch or lead channel.

Unfortunately being in a store I couldn’t turn them up much which can reveal different aspects for sure. My personal memories of a loud OG 5150 are from the 90’s which are murky at best but I certainly remember no problems with what I was getting at the time. So no idea if the Iconic wouldn’t do so well at high volume. Actually would like a chance to have both side by side and turn them up and record and see how it shakes out.
 
Last edited:
glpg80 said:
Do we know more about when reviewers will get their hands on it?

Hopefully this time around they’re smart enough to push back on using the matching piece or shit cabinet
Click to expand...

skoora said:
I did get one chance to try a block letter against the Iconic one time and they were completely different from each other except for both having a boatload of gain. The OG having more push in the low mids and the only way to get decent top end or cut by getting the presence way up. The Iconic was already pretty well balanced without any extreme EQ moves and had a lot more natural kerang and ring to it on crunch or lead channel.

Unfortunately being in a store I couldn’t turn them up much which can reveal different aspects for sure. My personal memories of a loud OG 5150 are from the 90’s which are murky at best but I certainly remember no problems with what I was getting at the time. So no idea if the Iconic wouldn’t do so well at high volume. Actually would like a chance to have both side by side and turn them up and record and see how it shakes out.
Click to expand...

James Brown talks a lot about the desing of the Iconic amps on the big thread on TGP. He mentioned tightening and brightening the amp, the way Ed preferred it compared to the OG, and the way all 5150s were afterwards.

He also mentioned one demo clip is already in the works and should be out later this week, and that the amps are going through QA. That's why pre-orders are being taken now.
 
LPMojoGL said:
James Brown talks a lot about the desing of the Iconic amps on the big thread on TGP. He mentioned tightening and brightening the amp, the way Ed preferred it compared to the OG, and the way all 5150s were afterwards.

He also mentioned one demo clip is already in the works and should be out later this week, and that the amps are going through QA. That's why pre-orders are being taken now.
Click to expand...
James Brown should come here and talk shop, I think he would find it warm waters, Mississippi man.
 
skoora said:
I did get one chance to try a block letter against the Iconic one time and they were completely different from each other except for both having a boatload of gain. The OG having more push in the low mids and the only way to get decent top end or cut by getting the presence way up. The Iconic was already pretty well balanced without any extreme EQ moves and had a lot more natural kerang and ring to it on crunch or lead channel.

Unfortunately being in a store I couldn’t turn them up much which can reveal different aspects for sure. My personal memories of a loud OG 5150 are from the 90’s which are murky at best but I certainly remember no problems with what I was getting at the time. So no idea if the Iconic wouldn’t do so well at high volume. Actually would like a chance to have both side by side and turn them up and record and see how it shakes out.
Click to expand...
What cab were you playing the Iconic through?

It can definitely sound different, but with the Burn switch on, when comparing its lead channel to the Red channel of the 6505, they were very, very close through the same cab. One thing I will mention, the Iconic seems more relaxed on the mids than the 6505. Where I'd usually scoop the mids around 4 on the Peavey, I have the Iconic up around 6.5. I also don't find James Brown's comments on the Presence changes to be true with mine - I have mine around 8 and any lower doesn't seem to make much of a difference 🤷‍♂️
 
If I had the Iconic combo, is there an easy way to plug it in and play it through my 4x12 cab?

I would buy the head but, I feel like I would also need the combo too and I don't really want to buy both.
 
MatrixClaw said:
What cab were you playing the Iconic through?

It can definitely sound different, but with the Burn switch on, when comparing its lead channel to the Red channel of the 6505, they were very, very close through the same cab. One thing I will mention, the Iconic seems more relaxed on the mids than the 6505. Where I'd usually scoop the mids around 4 on the Peavey, I have the Iconic up around 6.5. I also don't find James Brown's comments on the Presence changes to be true with mine - I have mine around 8 and any lower doesn't seem to make much of a difference 🤷‍♂️
Click to expand...
I played it mostly through an Orange 4x12.
 
skoora said:
I did get one chance to try a block letter against the Iconic one time and they were completely different from each other except for both having a boatload of gain. The OG having more push in the low mids and the only way to get decent top end or cut by getting the presence way up. The Iconic was already pretty well balanced without any extreme EQ moves and had a lot more natural kerang and ring to it on crunch or lead channel.

Unfortunately being in a store I couldn’t turn them up much which can reveal different aspects for sure. My personal memories of a loud OG 5150 are from the 90’s which are murky at best but I certainly remember no problems with what I was getting at the time. So no idea if the Iconic wouldn’t do so well at high volume. Actually would like a chance to have both side by side and turn them up and record and see how it shakes out.
Click to expand...

The Presence thing isn't so much about the amount of Presence the amp has on tap as it is about the sweep of the pot. The 5150, and 5150 III's, use Presence controls with log pots. This means they literally don't do anything from 0 to about 1:30 and the full sweep happens after that. James Brown thought that was a weird way to do things but Ed told him he liked it that way and it was Ed's amp so that's the way James left it.

The Iconic's Presence knob uses a a reverse log pot which is the "standard" way to do a Presence pot. This kind of pot actually makes the Presence knob feel linear and it's much, much better because of it. the Iconic actually sounds balanced with the Presence at noon while the OG 5150 doesn't sound balanced until the Presence pot is set to around 3:00 or 4:00.
 
Last edited:
Metalhex said:
If I had the Iconic combo, is there an easy way to plug it in and play it through my 4x12 cab?

I would buy the head but, I feel like I would also need the combo too and I don't really want to buy both.
Click to expand...
Yes, the internal speaker is connected to the speaker output jack on the back. You can just unplug it and use a different cab.

skoora said:
I played it mostly through an Orange 4x12.
Click to expand...
Interesting. I assume a good one and not one of the cheapo Oranges? Definitely possible we're just going for different tones out of them!
 
TheGreatGreen said:
The Presence thing isn't so much about the amount of Presence the amp has on tap as it is about the sweep of the pot. The 5150, and 5150 III's, use Presence controls with log pots. This means they literally don't do anything from 0 to about 1:30 and the full sweep happens after that. James Brown thought that was a weird way to do things but Ed told him he liked it that way and it was Ed's amp so that's the way James left it.

The Iconic's Presence knob uses a a reverse log pot which is the "standard" way to do a Presence pot. This kind of pot actually makes the Presence knob feel linear and it's much, much better because of it. the Iconic actually sounds balanced with the Presence at noon while the OG 5150 doesn't sound balanced until the Presence pot is set to around 3:00 or 4:00.
Click to expand...

There’s a sweet spot I love on the 5150 II around 5:00 where it cleans up the gain structure and sounds great. The downside is that it’s a very specific setting between cut your head off all the way up and the sweet spot where it sounds right.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top